Warriors swat away recent swarm of criticism

OKLAHOMA CITY - From Oscar Robertson to Isiah Thomas to Stephen Jackson, retired players have come from all angles this week to claim that their teams would have stopped the seemingly unstoppable 2015-16 Warriors.

The Warriors are now officially responding, starting with a hilarious Twitter stream Friday and continuing at the team’s morning shootaround Saturday.

It started just before the team’s flight from Orlando to Oklahoma City on Friday, when center Andrew Bogut posted on Twitter: “My under-14 team in Melbourne, Australia would have beat these Warriors 109-99. Fat Jimmy would have locked down Stephen Curry!!!!”

“They obviously want to get in the media and have their name heard again,” Bogut said after Saturday’s shootaround. “I just hope I’m not a bitter old man in my 50s and 60s. Every generation says the next generation is softer and slower and not as smart and not as physical. I hope I’m not one of those guys that does that. It’s unfortunate. I respect all eras. Every era brought something different, as will the new era in 10 or 15 years when I’m on my couch with a beer open and watching. I respect everybody, because I know what it takes to get to this league - whatever era you played in.”

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was asked if it was a compliment to be compared to some of the league’s all-time great teams.

“It would be a compliment, if they were saying something nice about us, but it doesn’t appear to be a compliment,” Kerr said. “I’m amused by the whole thing. It doesn’t bother me. I think it’s amusing. Every era is so different. The rules are different. The styles are different. The play is different. …

“When you try to compare all of this stuff, it’s pretty much impossible, so all of this stuff is meaningless and sort of amusing.”